OPG’s Nuclear Waste Management

Terry Doran

VP Nuclear Waste Management

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OPG Waste Facilities

Western Waste Management Facility (Bruce Power)

Darlington Station Pickering Station

Used Fuel and Future

Refurbishment Waste Storage

Used Fuel and Refurbishment Waste Storage

Used Fuel Refurbishment

and Low and Intermediate

Waste Storage

Waste Overview Video

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Presentation Outline

Types of Waste Produced and How it is Created

How we Ship our Waste

How we Process our Waste

Where we Store our Waste

Reducing our Current and Future Footprint

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Types of Waste Produced

and How it is Generated

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Waste Types:

Low-Level Waste LLW has a dose rate of less than10

mSv/h at 30 cm, and the waste

stream contains primarily short-

lived radionuclides

• Includes lightly-contaminated

materials:

paper/plastic/gloves/clothing/

tools/wood/concrete, incinerator

ash, and used equipment such as

pipes, valves, heat-exchangers and

steam generators

• Safely handled using normal

industrial practices without any

special radiation protection

• Capable of volume reduction

Waste Types:

Intermediate-Level Waste

ILW waste package has a dose

rate of more than 10 mSv/h at 30

cm, or if it contains significant

amounts of long-lived

radionuclides

Requires radiation shielding during

transportation, handling & storage

Primarily:

Resins (beads)

Filters

Refurbishment waste (fuel channels)

Not processed

Stored in in-ground containers (ICs)

Waste Types: Used Fuel

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From reactors, used fuel is placed in wet storage pools.

Each reactor site has wet storage facilities for 15-20 years of operation

After a minimum of 10 years in wet storage, used fuel can be transferred to Dry Storage Containers (DSCs)

How Waste is Generated

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Wastes from Operations

Day to day operations of running a station online

• Low

• Intermediate

• Used fuel

Outages - offline

System and equipment maintenance

• Low

• Intermediate

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At the half-way point of reactor life –

refurbishment is undertaken

Waste generated:

Sectioned pressure tubes

Calandria tubes

End fittings and shield plugs

Steam generators (Bruce only)

Stored at sites on an interim basis

Wastes from Refurbishment

Wastes from Decommissioning

Stations placed in safe-storage for

approximately 30 years

Earliest start of decommissioning mid-

2040’s

Intermediate level:

• Reactor pressure tubes and end fittings

• Reactor shield tank and core components

Low Level:

• Pumps, steam generators, piping and

valves

• Concrete and structural steel

• Wiring and motors

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How we Safely Transport

Nuclear Waste

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As part of operating Nuclear Generating Stations,

OPG must:

1. Move Low and Intermediate Level Radioactive Waste

to Western Waste Management Facility at Bruce Site;

2. Move radioactively-contaminated reactor inspection

tools, heavy water moderator between stations; and

3. Move reactor components and single bundles of

irradiated fuel to AECL-Chalk River for examination.

Why does OPG have a

Transportation program?

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Transportation Vehicles

Low Level

Heavy Water (tritium)

Intermediate Level Waste

Roadrunner Transportation Package

Reactor components

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Safe and Secure

Our People are Highly Skilled and Trained

• Extra driver training – skid school, load securement

• Trained in Radiation Protection

• Evaluated by external driver training firm every 2 years

Our Equipment and Procedures are Robust

• High frequency of vehicle replacement

• Quarterly and annual maintenance per regulations

• Anti-rollover, tracking systems /GPS

• Transport during regular business hours

• Adverse weather program

• Detailed emergency preparedness procedures

• 24/7 Transportation Emergency Response Team

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How we Process and

Store the Waste

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Waste Handling and Storage

at WWMF

L&ILW is stored at WWMF

WWMF has been receiving radioactive waste for storage

since 1974

WWMF operation has demonstrated that these waste

packages can be safely handled and stored

Worker and public dose rates have been consistently

below regulatory limits

WWMF safe operating experience over the past

40 years

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Western Waste Management Facility

Proposed

DGR

Low Level

Storage

Used Fuel Dry

Storage

Waste Volume

Reduction

Building

In-Ground

Storage

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Low-Level Waste Processing

Sorting

Incineration

Compaction

Non-

Processible

95% reduction

1:1

75% reduction

Interim Storage

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Intermediate Level Low Level

Lifecycle Management of OPG’s Low & Intermediate Level Waste

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Continuous Safety Improvement

Initiatives

Continuous Safety Improvement

Initiatives

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Used Fuel Dry Storage

•Stored on an interim basis at:

• Pickering

• Darlington

• Western Waste MF

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Interim Storage

Dry Storage Container (DSC)

• Robust thick inner and outer carbon steel liners

• thick reinforced high density concrete wall

• Weight: 60 tons empty

• 70 tons loaded

Lifecycle Management OPG’s Used Fuel

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Continuous Safety Improvement

Initiatives

Minimizing Waste Volume

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Minimizing Waste Volume

Minimization and Volume reduction is critical to effectively

manage current and future storage space

Need to limit on-site expansion/construction of Low Level

Storage Buildings

Need to further reduce volume of waste generated at

source

NWMD conducted a Waste Pilot in 2012/2013 in order to:

Demonstrate and validate third party technologies

Assess cost-effectiveness (ratepayer value for money)

Low Level Non-processible

Low level waste (dry active waste

including bins)

80 bins were sent for sorting and

processing

Results:

• 43% metal, metal melted

• 25% compactable

• 27% incinerable

• 5% “non conforming”

14 bins were returned:

• 11 compacted waste

• 3 incinerator ash

• 1 “non conforming”

Heat Exchanger Metal Melt

Pickering Heat Exchanger

Shipped on tarped transportation

package container

Was metal melted by Energy

Solutions

Virtually 100% Volume Reduction

(only non-ferrous components to

be returned)

Metal repurposed

Metal Tote Frames

Totes used for storage of waste oil;

inner plastic liner becomes

contaminated and treated as rad

waste

Outer metal frame can be free

released

Over 250 of these on site

Fifty were sent off site for

decontamination and free release

Remaining inventory was then

completed by OPG staff - all were

sent to scrap metal recycling

Pickering Drums

Pickering Station had

accumulated > 2,000 empty

stainless steel drums of

varying ages and conditions

Drums were sent for metal

melt

Previously drums would

have been compacted and

stored as radioactive waste

No metal to be returned

Questions??

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